Small skillet - can somebody help identify?

[jsp]

I recently got a number of cast iron skillets originally used by my great grandmother, and I've cleaned and reseasoned all of them (Wagner and Griswold).  One that doesn't fit the mold is a beautiful small skillet with the following markings on the bottom:

1) At the top, an indented script E
2) At the bottom, a raised non-script Y
3) Beneath the Y, an indented number 11

Can anyone help me identify this and/or give me some clue as to its worth?

Thanks,

Jonathan

[Harry Riva]

That may be a very unusual looking skillet. I think it's early Lodge from the  one break in the heat ring and the small floating letter. What looks like a script E to you is the number 3, which is the size of the skillet, except it appears to be cast backwards. A #3 would be about 6 1/2 inches across. Is that about right for the size of your skillet? The Lodge boys know more about these early Lodge's than I do and they will be along and straighten me out on the E. I've never seen the number cast backward. I assume the picture is a true representation of what the pan looks like and not a negative image of the pan which would show everything in reverse, but only the 3 would show up backwards. Now, your not puttin' me on a bit at this late hour, are you Jonathon?
Harry

[Steve_Stephens]

I bet that Lodge pan was photographed using a built in camera like mine on my iMac.  It will reverse the image so the 3 will be backwards just like the "Y" is in that image.
Jonathan, your pan is c.1940 I would guess and worth around $10 more or less.  Nothing special except to you but they are good quality skillets.

Steve

[jsp]

I promise that is exactly what the skillet looks like when I flip it upside-down - I didn't do any image manipulation at all.  I used a Canon PowerShot S410 to take that picture, then rescaled it in photoshop.  I've never seen anything quite like it and couldn't find any information on the web, which is why I came here in the first place.

I just figured it was a script E for Erie and was therefore an early Griswold.  I know the others I have are pretty old and spent the last 50 years or so in boxes.  Here's a picture of some others in the collection (to prove my innocence!):

[Tom Neitzel]

I don't want to seems nuts, but if you rotate the pan 180 degrees, the E becomes a 3.  The other marks are then "upside down", but I don't think that matters at all.

[jsp]

I don't want to seems nuts, but if you rotate the pan 180 degrees, the E becomes a 3.  The other marks are then "upside down", but I don't think that matters at all.

That's crazy talk! ;)

So is it safe to say this isn't a Wagner or Griswold and is likely an early Lodge or maybe even a no-name brand?  What do the Y and 11 indicate?

[Paul Hummel]

It is a LODGE skillet

                                                         

Paul H.

[Steve_Stephens]

I just figured it was a script E for Erie and was therefore an early Griswold.

Griswold never marked anything using an "E" to signify ERIE.  Either a Griswold piece is unmarked (but usually with a pattern number) or is fully marked ERIE or Griswold, etc.

The "Y" is probably a molder's mark stamped into the sand mold by the person doing the molding of that pan while the II is a pattern mark and I'm not sure what it's purpose was unless to signify which of several patterns was used to cast the skillet.
If Lodge had three patterns for No.3 skillets they might have marked them I,  II,  and III for instance.
Steve

[Greg Stahl]

nice old LODGE